Just Like Them
by SmugKK
Summary: One-Shot. As Sirius travels towards Hogwarts, he finds a family that reminds him of the one he lost.


It was raining. Not the gentle summer rains that beckoned children out of their homes to splash in the streets, or the rain that cast a purple, hazy glow against the warm light that shimmers through windows at night.

This was a downpour.

Lightning crackled through swollen clouds and cars drove slowly over flooded streets, their high beams doing little to cut through the gale.

The village of Kettlewell was used to such weather, but it seemed that even the residents could sense the unnaturalness of this storm. The wind was much to strong and the rain far too icy for the middle of the summer. Tonight, it was better to stay indoors than to venture out.

On the northern end of town, sheltered between two of the grey stone homes that lined the streets, a dog curled in on itself behind a trash bin, shivering as it tried to keep out of the chilling rain.

The window above him was awash with warm yellow light, a high tinkling laugh, muffled by the windowpane, drew the dog's attention. Sirius whined, high and keening, in response.

Wet, matted fur made him look wild and indeed, several mothers had pulled their children away from him as he dug through garbage, looking for food scraps to quell the rumbling in his belly. He had been hungry for a lifetime, it seemed.

Quite suddenly, the side door banged open and a young man stumbled out, laughing and shouting back to the woman inside. He was wrapped in a rain jacket, carrying a bag full of trash, headed for the bin where Sirius hid.

Sirius shrank back, out of site in the weeds as the man carefully placed the trash in the bin and hurried inside, eager to get out of the cold rain. Sirius hurried after him and settled on the back porch, out of the rain, against the glass door.

Inside, there were three people. A family.

A lovely young woman with long blonde hair sat at the kitchen table with a small dark haired child on her lap. She laughed as the baby reached up and took a fistful of her long hair and tugged at it gently.

Sirius stared at them through the window with rapt attention. She looked so much like Lily, cooing over the child like that. And the baby… _it was Harry_.

Her husband reappeared, now without his slicker and Sirius felt his heart constrict.

He was a tall man, with an athletic frame, and a mop of dark hair and a wide smile as he looked down at his wife and child.

They were a beautiful family- Sirius could the love this family had in the way the man's eyes sparked with life, in the way the woman cradled the baby close to her chest.

 _The Potters._

Sirius longed to go inside. He longed to embrace his friends and toss Harry up into the air. Harry loved that game- _he loved his Uncle Sirius_.

Sirius continued to watch, hungry to absorb every detail, his face pressed close to the glass, his snout causing steam to fog up the windowpanes, obscuring his view.

The family was finishing supper. The mother gently set the child on the floor to clear the table. The baby held tightly to the chair to keep itself upright.

 _Harry did the same thing._

Sirius let out another whine thinking about his godson. He felt as if Grief itself had ripped his heart right out of his chest.

 _Lily and James were gone, but Harry was at Hogwarts. He had to get to Hogwarts._

But he wanted to stay here. He wanted to watch this family and protect them. Nothing would harm them- this Lily would never have to throw herself in front of death for her baby.

Sirius would stay with them. He would atone for his sins and the lives of the family that he lost. He would protect them.

 _He could protect them._

The baby had caught sight of the black dog curled up at the back door. It toddled over and pressed its chubby face up to the glass, trying to give kisses to the puppy dog.

 _This was not Harry_.

This baby had grey eyes, like James, and brown curling hair, neatly tucked into a bow on the right side of her head.

 _These were not the Potters._

Sirius stared at this child, feeling his heart shatter all over again as he looked into the face of a child enamored with his black fur, small fat hands grasping for it. The baby cooed at him through the window.

 _Harry was at Hogwarts._

 _James and Lily were dead._

Suddenly the mother was there, bending to collect her daughter from the floor. With a gasp, she lifted the child into her arms and balanced the little girl on her hip.

"James!" She called out behind her. "Come quickly!"

Dropping the baby into a high chair, out of harm's way, the woman turned back to open the door, to let the dog in, out of the freezing rain.

But Sirius had gone.


End file.
